After Trump’s Disinfectant Comments, Calls to Poison Control Centers Spike in New York, Michigan, Illinois and Maryland

“Please don’t do it. Just don’t do it,” Whitmer added.

Their warnings came two days after Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said that the state had seen a “significant increase in calls to the Illinois Poison Control Center in association with exposure to cleaning agents” since Thursday. Ezike’s remarks were issued at the Illinois coronavirus briefing on Friday.

“Injecting, ingesting, or snorting household cleaners is dangerous. It is not advised, and it can be deadly,” Ezike added, joining hundreds of domestic public health officials that have asked people not to use those methods to treat coronavirus.

When asked by Newsweek to respond to the increase in calls to domestic poison control centers on Sunday, a White House spokesperson blamed the media for allegedly taking Trump’s remarks out of context. “The media has lost control with their mischaracterizations and outlandish headlines about what the President said, and completely ignore that he has consistently emphasized that Americans should consult with their doctors regarding coronavirus treatment,” the spokesperson said in an email.

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Friday released a similar statement. “President Trump has repeatedly said that Americans should consult with medical doctors regarding coronavirus treatment, a point that he emphasized again during yesterday’s briefing,” she said. “Leave it to the media to irresponsibly take President Trump out of context and run with negative headlines.”

The post After Trump’s Disinfectant Comments, Calls to Poison Control Centers Spike in New York, Michigan, Illinois and Maryland appeared first on Newsweek.